Nigella Lawson Strangling Saatchi at Restaurant After Police Caution

A mere six days since the world was horrified by the pictures of Nigella Lawson’s “strangling” by husband Charles Saatchi, the couple were out in public together and having a bite to eat at a restaurant. Saatchi had only been given a police caution on Monday for the previous meal the two had together!

The most ironic part of the whole meal for two, is that they are at the very same eatery where the pictures were taken of the 70 year-old Saatchi with his hands around the throat of his 53 year-old wife, Nigella. The last time the two ate in the restaurant, Nigella had tears in her eyes as the two had an argument that, Saatchi said was a “playful tiff.”

On monday, British police said they are investigating newspaper photos that show celebrity chef Nigella Lawson’s husband, Charles Saatchi, with his hands around her throat appearing to strangle her in a restaurant.

The English newspaper the Sunday People published the pictures to widespread public condemnation of the apparent rough treatment of Lawson. The tabloid newspaper said the images were taken during an argument at a London restaurant on June 9. Charities for domestic violence victims, were outraged at the “spousal” abuse that had been displayed and caught on film.

The newspaper’s coverage of Saatchi strangling Nigella Lawson at the restaurant put the 70 year-old entrepreneur in a very bad light and he took the step of going to see the local police where he admitted to having his hands around his wife’s throat and he received a caution about his behaviour.

After the incident, celebrity chef Nigella Lawson’s spokesman, Mark Hutchinson, declined to comment on the published photographs. But Saatchi, Britain’s best-known art collector, told the London Evening Standard newspaper that the pictures were taken “out of context” and misrepresented a “playful tiff.”

Saatchi who also writes a column for the Evening Standard, told the paper that, “About a week ago, we were sitting outside a restaurant having an intense debate about the children, and I held Nigella’s neck repeatedly while attempting to emphasize my point.”

He said, “There was no grip, it was a playful tiff. The pictures are horrific but give a far more drastic and violent impression of what took place. Nigella’s tears were because we both hate arguing, not because she had been hurt.”

The 70-year-old co-founder of the Saatchi & Saatchi ad agency said that the couple “had made up by the time we were home.”

While Saatchi might have claimed that the strangling incident was blown way out of proportion, he told his wife to leave the couple’s London home with their children “until the dust settled.”

Apparently, the art gallery owner and columnist wasn’t lying when he said that he and Nigella had made up. She must have come back from her very short visit to mum and the two of them obviously felt the need to celebrate the occasion with a meal out.

A rep for Lawson had no comment on the incident other than to confirm that the 53-year-old domestic maven had left the couple’s home following the incident. Now, Nigella is back, although there has been no official statement to say whether she’s actually moved back in or not. But they are apparently getting on well enough to “eat out” again.

E! News got hold of some photographs that show the very calm and placid couple as they sit peacefully at the restaurant where just six days before, Saatchi was strangling Nigella Lawson so convincingly that he got a police caution for his actions. This is the first time they’ve been spotted together since the fight. They were drinking and chatting during lunch. After their meal, the restaurant doorman hailed them a taxi.